When Red Forge
Ltd, the leading on-vehicle weighing specialist looked to develop
its new Omniweigh payload weighing system for heavy goods
vehicles including tippers, flatbeds and refuse collection trucks,
they worked with Variohm EuroSensor for the design and supply
of rugged and durable load cells to match the demands of this
challenging application.

The H10J series
load cells provide the payload, tare and overload security measurement
for tipping vehicles up to 32 tonnes with information that is
essential for safety - and all components used for the Omniweigh
weighing system must comply with rigorous standards and provide
high reliability and totally dependable accuracy.

As the exclusive
UK distributor for ZEMIC load cells, Variohm EuroSensor were
able to call upon its close relationship with the Asian based
designer and manufacturer to develop and supply a customised
version of its H10J series transducer to match the Red Forge
specification within competitive pricing and keen delivery times.
Variohm has direct access to ZEMICs engineering department
where over 225 design engineers are on hand and ready to provide
customised modifications or completely new designs.

The stringent
approvals procedure between Red Forge and Variohm included the
supply of several prototype units used for field trials and life
testing. The load cell mounting position is unavoidably exposed
to the high levels of shock and vibration that these working
vehicles endure on a regular basis. To ensure complete reliability,
the H10J load cell is IP67 rated and housed in an alloy steel,
nickel plated, bending beam design with adhesive sealing for
best stability.

Customisation
from the standard design includes an increased overload capability
to 200% and a modified temperature compensation over -20ºC
to +40 ºC to ensure that cold early mornings or changes
in weather conditions have minimal effect on the weight readings.
The range also conforms to RoHs standards.

In designing
the Omniweigh system, Red Forge consulted vehicle fleet users
as to the features that would be required, discovering that the
primary requests were for the unit to be simple to use and the
ability to store and retrieve data by several methods. As such,
this new system can be linked not only to a thermal printer,
but also to a USB memory pen drive or remotely collected through
a Vehicle Telematics System (VTS). The cab mounted display and
software is designed and manufactured in-house by Red Forge.
All parts of the system are obtained from local UK suppliers
wherever possible.

The new Omniweigh
system axle load indicators from Red Forge, including Limitlite
Plus and Axalert 20/20, have been installed to thousands
of vans and trucks throughout the UK. Andy Freeman, M.D. of Red
Forge states: It is yet another product designed in conjunction
with the end user to provide a fine balance of simplicity and
cost, whilst maintaining our excellent record of reliability
and aftercare.